2011 Barnsley Central by-election

Parliamentary by-election in the UK January 2020 January 2014 2011 Barnsley Central by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Barnsley Central constituency no 2010 United Kingdom general election 2010 2015 United Kingdom general election 2015 3 March 2011 36.5% File:Official portrait of Dan Jarvis crop 2.jpg Dan Jarvis Labour Party (UK) 14,724 60.8% 13.5 pp File:Jane Collins (15406371261) (3x4 crop).jpg Jane Collins UK Independence Party 2,953 12.2% 7.5 pp Conservative Party (UK) James Hockney Conservative Party (UK) 1,999 8.3% 9.0 pp British National Party Enis Dalton British National Party 1,463 6.0% 2.9 pp Independent Tony Devoy Independent politician 1,266 5.2% New party MP Subsequent MP Eric Illsley Labour Party (UK) Dan Jarvis Labour Party (UK) A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Barnsley Central was held on 3 March 2011, caused by the resignation of incumbent Labour Party MP Eric Illsley after he was charged with offences relating to the MPs' expenses scandal. It was won by Dan Jarvis of Labour, who held the seat for the party with an increased majority. Background On 19 June 2009, Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley of the Labour Party was one of dozens of MPs identified by The Daily Telegraph as having made "phantom" claims for council tax on their parliamentary expenses. Illsley claimed over £10,000 for council tax in four years although he was only charged £3,966 for his Band C property in Lambeth in this period. He regularly submitted claims for £200 a month, which meant that he did not have to submit receipts.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5581934/MPs-expenses-MPs-made-inflated-council-tax-claims.html MPs' expenses: MPs made inflated council tax claims Winnett Robert Wyatt Holly The Daily Telegraph 19 June 2009 19 May 2010 London He was re-elected in the 2010 general election, but shortly after, on 19 May 2010, he was charged with three counts of false accounting.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8691861.stm Labour MP charged over expenses BBC 19 May 2010 19 May 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100522122542/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8691861.stm 22 May 2010 live He was subsequently suspended from the Labour Party and continued to sit as an Independent Labour MP. On 11 January 2011, Illsley pleaded guilty to three charges.MPs' expenses: Labour's Eric Illsley admits fraud https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12157768 11 January 2011 BBC website 11 January 2011 Sentencing was postponed for four weeks, during which Illsley remained an MP and therefore continued to receive a Parliamentary salary. A prison sentence of more than 12 months would have meant Illsley being automatically disqualified from Parliament under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1981,Alexandra Topping https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/jan/11/mp-eric-illsley-admits-charges Eric Illsley admits MP expenses charges | Politics The Guardian 11 January 2011 20 January 2011 London https://web.archive.org/web/20110126212057/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/11/mp-eric-illsley-admits-charges 26 January 2011 live but a sentence of 12 months or less would not.Representation of the People Act 1981 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/34/section/1 27 February 2011 legislation.gov.uk 2 July 1981PA https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mp-eric-illsley-resigns-after-expenses-shame-2182755.html MP Eric Illsley resigns after expenses shame The Independent 12 January 2011 27 February 2011 London 17 January 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110117051641/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mp-eric-illsley-resigns-after-expenses-shame-2182755.html dead The Speaker ruled that Illsley's case was sub judice and therefore no motion to expel him from the House of Commons could be debated until after sentencing. Labour leader Ed Miliband and others called on Illsley to resign, and Illsley announced on 12 January 2011 that he would do so.Shamed expenses fraud MP Eric Illsley still picking up full salary, Joe Murphy, Evening Standard, 26 January 2011 Illsley resigned on 8 February, two days before sentencing."Expenses fraud Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley resigns", BBC News, 8 February 2011 The writ for the by-election was moved the following day, setting polling day as 3 March 2011.https://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hz1YNNQBnmXQKQ4uVSJCW3eeG3Bg?docId=N0637781297252095555A Race to succeed shamed MP under way Press Association 9 February 2011June 2024 medicmedic On 10 February, Illsley was sentenced to exactly 12 months. At the 2010 general election, Barnsley Central was Labour's 52nd safest seat,http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge10/maj.htm Constituencies in order of % Majority after the 2010 general election Politicsresources.net 13 January 2011 20 January 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20101218000522/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge10/maj.htm 18 December 2010 dead and has, with its predecessor seat of Barnsley been held by the party since 1935. In 2010, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party took second and third places, with only six votes separating them. The British National Party was the only other party to retain its deposit. Candidates Barnsley Council confirmed the Statement of Persons Nominated on 16 February. http://www.barnsley.gov.uk/0xac16000b_0x004a5b6f Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll Barnsley Council on-line PDF 16 February 2011 16 February 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110724165039/http://www.barnsley.gov.uk/0xac16000b_0x004a5b6f 24 July 2011 dead Labour Party members of the Barnsley Central constituency chose Dan Jarvis as their candidate on 27 January 2011.Barnsley candidate announced https://web.archive.org/web/20110128174405/http://www.labourlist.org/barnsley-central-candidate-announced 28 January 2011 LabourList accessed 27 January 2010 Jarvis, a Major in the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment who served in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, is the first Labour candidate for this constituency or its predecessor to be born outside Yorkshire since 1938.https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/lentingle/2011/01/a_surprise_choice_for_labour_i.html Len Tingle's Blog: Dan Jarvis – a surprise choice for Labour in Barnsley BBC News online 12 February 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110211195157/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/lentingle/2011/01/a_surprise_choice_for_labour_i.html 11 February 2011 live On 10 February it was disclosed that Conservative Party leader David Cameron had approached former Yorkshire cricketer Darren Gough, known to be a party supporter, with an invitation to fight the seat. Gough declined due to other commitments but pledged to campaign in the by-election.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12416939 Darren Gough turns down chance to become Tory candidate BBC News online 10 February 2011 Later that day 32-year-old businessman James Hockney was announced as the Conservative candidate.http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2011/02/barnsley-central-by-election-to-take-place-on-march-3rd.html James Hockney to be Conservative candidate at Barnsley Central by-election Isaby Jonathan 10 February 2011 ConservativeHome Hockney is a South Cambridgeshire councillor who fought the neighbouring Barnsley East constituency in 2010.http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/barnsleyeast/ UK Polling Report, Barnsley East 12 February 2011 21 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101221142339/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/barnsleyeast dead The British National Party had declared its intention to stand Enis Dalton as a candidate in the election.http://bnp.org.uk/news/british-national-party-will-fight-barnsley-central-election British National Party Will Fight Barnsley Central By-Election British National Party 20 January 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110115050147/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/british-national-party-will-fight-barnsley-central-election 15 January 2011 dead dmy-all http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/british-national-party-appoints-candidate-barnsley-election British National Party Bnp.org.uk 29 January 2011 2 February 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110201210418/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/british-national-party-appoints-candidate-barnsley-election 1 February 2011 dmy The Candidate for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was Jane Collins, a miner's daughter from Pontefract.UKIP candidate launches campaign Barnsley Chronicle The Liberal Democrats selected journalist Dominic Carman on 12 February. The son of late barrister George Carman, he had fought Barking at the 2010 election and, as a long-time campaigner against the BNP,Dominic Carman: “Why I’m standing against Nick Griffin”, The Times, 23 April 2010 wrote an unofficial biography of the party's leader, Nick Griffin, which remains unpublished.Dominic Carman>Liberal Democrat, Barking https://web.archive.org/web/20110831203740/http://ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk/Barking/Dominic+Carman 31 August 2011 Daily Telegraphhttp://www.libdemvoice.org/dominic-carman-selected-as-liberal-democrat-candidate-for-barnsley-central-byelection-23036.html Dominic Carman selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Barnsley Central by-election Duffett Helen 12 February 2011 Liberal Democrat Voice (On polling day, the London Evening Standard reported that Nick Clegg had not visited the seat at all during the campaign, and was "the first Lib-Dem leader to jettison his candidate in this way since at least 1999".Evening Standard, 3 March 2011, p.16) Independent candidate Tony Devoy stood in the same constituency at the general election with policies related to living wages and MP salary reductions. He was the Libertas.eu lead candidate at the 2009 European Parliament elections in the East Midlands region.Yorkshire and Humberside candidates https://web.archive.org/web/20120218212639/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/yorkshire-and-humberside-european/ 18 February 2012 UKPollingLeaflets tagged with Devoy https://web.archive.org/web/20110726021131/http://www.electionleaflets.org/leaflets/4379/ 26 July 2011 electionleaflets.org Fellow independent Michael Val Davies campaigned on reforming the tax system, telling the Barnsley Chronicle newspaper that he had 'no chance of winning' the byelection.Independent has 'no chance' of winning Barnsley Chronicle Result Labour retained the seat with a significantly increased majority, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a sharp fall in votes compared to the election 10 months previously. UKIP finished second with nearly one in eight of the votes, while the Conservatives finished third with just over 8% of the votes, and the British National Party's 6% share of the vote saw them finish fourth. The result was notable for being the first time that UKIP came second in a Westminster election, and for the large drops in vote share by the coalition Government members, the Liberal Democrats' sixth position attracting particular attention.Lib Dems slump to sixth as Labour win Barnsley poll, BBC News, 4 March 2011Barnsley by-election: What now for Lib Dems?, by Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 4 March 2011 This would set the pattern for many more by-elections during the 2010-2015 parliament; the Liberal Democrats would lose their deposit in 11 of 19 by-elections in Great Britain, while UKIP came second in eight contests, and would ultimately go on to win two by-elections in 2014. thumb|right|216px|General election results since 1983 Barnsley Central by-election, 2011 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12643639 By election result for Barnsley Central BBC 4 March 2011 4 March 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110304052428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12643639 4 March 2011 live 24,219 36.5 –19.6 11,771 48.6 +18.6 hold 13.3 Liberal Democrats (UK) Labour Party (UK) Dan Jarvis Labour Party (UK) 14,724 60.8 +13.5 Jane Collins UK Independence Party 2,953 12.2 +7.5 James Hockney Conservative Party (UK) 1,999 8.3 –9.0 Enis Dalton British National Party 1,463 6.0 –2.9 Tony Devoy Independent politician 1,266 5.2 +3.6 Dominic Carman Liberal Democrats (UK) 1,012 4.2 –13.1 Kevin Riddiough English Democrats 544 2.2 N/A Howling Laud Hope Official Monster Raving Loony Party 198 0.8 N/A Michael Davies Independent politician 60 0.2 N/A General Election 2010 Barnsley Central https://web.archive.org/web/20091223042130/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/barnsleycentral 23 December 2009 UKPollinghttp://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/results/general_elections/uk-general-election-2010/barnsley-central? UK general election 2010: Results for Barnsley Central Electoral Commission 12 January 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20101228095053/http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/elections/results/general_elections/uk-general-election-2010/barnsley-central 28 December 2010 live 37,001 56.5 +8.8 11,093 30.0 –14.5 hold 5.5 Labour Party (UK) Liberal Democrats (UK) Eric Illsley Labour Party (UK) 17,487 47.3 –10.4 Christopher Wiggin Liberal Democrats (UK) 6,394 17.3 +0.7 Piers Tempest Conservative Party (UK) 6,388 17.3 +2.5 Ian Sutton British National Party 3,307 8.9 +4.4 David Silver UK Independence Party 1,727 4.7 N/A Donald Wood Independent politician 732 2.0 –2.1 Tony Devoy Independent politician 610 1.6 N/A Terence Robinson Socialist Labour Party (UK) 356 1.0 N/A See also 1889 Barnsley by-election 1897 Barnsley by-election 1938 Barnsley by-election 1953 Barnsley by-election List of United Kingdom by-elections References External links Barnsley Central Conservative Association Dan Jarvis Standing Up For Barnsley Category:2011 elections in the United Kingdom Category:2011 in England Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in South Yorkshire constituencies Category:Elections in Barnsley Category:2010s in South Yorkshire